Survey: Obesity Top Kids' Health Issue

July 14, 2008 -- What would you say are the biggest problems facing our children today? A new survey of adults -- including those with and without children -- shows that childhood obesity is the No. 1 one health concern.

The survey was conducted in April of this year among 2,064 adults. They were given twenty different health concerns and asked to rate which ones were a "big problem."

Here is the top ten list of biggest health concerns for children in 2008, from the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital's National Poll on Children's Health:

Thirty-five percent of adults surveyed ranked childhood obesity as a "big problem" for today's children. How does that differ from last year? Obesity ranked as the third in the 2007 poll.

"The National Poll on Children's Health report clearly shows that adults in America are very concerned about the problem of childhood obesity and its causes," says Matthew M. Davis, MD, in a news release.

Davis is the poll's director. "While recent studies have suggested that the childhood obesity epidemic may be leveling off, the results of this poll reveal that adults in the U.S. are still very much concerned about this issue."

Among the African-American community, teen pregnancy was considered the top health concern, with 35% of respondents saying it was a big problem, compared to 33% of Hispanics and 21% of whites.

Here is more of the breakdown among ethnic groups surveyed:

Drug abuse:

50% of Hispanics said it was a big problem

35% of African American participants

29% of whites

Adults in the lower income bracket ranked drug abuse as a greater concern than wealthy and middle class participants.

In 2007 cigarette smoking was viewed as the biggest concern for children. 52% of Hispanic participants rated it as their major concern.